[Intro: Nas] Yea, niggaz want to talk about this rap shit Niggaz want to talk about this money About these cars, these homes, these labels Clothes, sneakers, big money shit Now everybody tryin' to get rich Now get rich niggaz, fuck it [Verse 1: Nas] Some rap pioneers, be them crackheads When they speak, you see missin' teeth Silver chain with a silver piece Niggaz your grandfather's age They pants still hangin' down they legs talkin' about they ain't paid And they hate you, 'cause they say, you ain't pay dues And ..... was stealin' and robbin' them I feel it's a problem we gotta resolve Hip-Hop been dead, we the reason it died Wasn't Sylvia's fault or because MC's skills are lost It's because we can't see ourselves as the boss Deep-rooted through slavery, self-hatred The Jewish stick together, friends in high places We on some low level shit We don't want niggaz to ever win See, everybody got a label Everybody's a rapper but few flow fatal It's fucked up, it all started from two turntables [Hook: Nas] When they crown you - and you rise up to your position (Carry On Tradition) When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war, don't petition (Carry On Tradition) - (Carry On Tradition) Carry on, ca-carry on, (Carry On Tradition) (Carry On Tradition), when you rep what we rep Then (Carry On Tradition) [Verse 2: Nas] Now some of these new rappers got their caps flipped backwards Wit their fingers intertwined in some gang-sign madness I got an exam, let's see if y'all pass it Let's see who can quote a Daddy Kane line the fastest Some of you new rappers, I don't understand your code You have your man shoot you, like in that Sopranos episode Do anythin' to get in the game, mixtapes, you spit hate Against bosses; hungry fucks are moraless You should be tossed in a pit full of unfortunate vocalists Niggaz, I coulda wrote your shit; I had off-time, was bored wit this I coulda made my double-LP, just by samplin' different parts of Nautilus Still came five on the charts with zero audience The lane was open and y'all was droppin' that garbage shit Y'all got awards for your bricks - it got good to ya You started tellin' them bigger dogs to call it quits?! WHAT? [Hook: Nas] When they crown you - and you rise up to your position (Carry On Tradition) When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war, don't petition (Carry On Tradition) - (Carry On Tradition) Carry on, ca-carry on, (Carry On Tradition) (Carry On Tradition), when you rep what we rep Then (Carry On Tradition) [Verse 3: Nas] Now niggaz got the studio poppin', it's mad clearer Engineers got his earplugs and still hear us The live-in-the-park sound, versus the studio state of art sound We on the charts now; from British Walkers and Argyles Look at us rap stars now, wit our black cars now Fortune 500 listed, brunches, sip Cipriani's Sippin', blunted, with rich white guys around me Thick white girls around me, Chinese lined up Because I'm what?, every dime lust We used to be a ghetto secret; can't make my mind up If I want that or the whole world to peep it Now (Carry On Tradition) Fuck a bum wack rapper makin' his career out of dissin' Peace to the strugglin' artists and dead one's gone, we miss 'em I promise I (Carry On Tradition) [Hook: Nas] When they crown you - and you rise up to your position (Carry On Tradition) When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war, don't petition (Carry On Tradition) - (Carry On Tradition) Carry on, ca-carry on, (Carry On Tradition) (Carry On Tradition), when you rep what we rep Then (Carry On Tradition)
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